French Tutors for GCSE, A-Level and IB

Families searching for French tutors for GCSE, A-Level and IB are usually weighing up a specific gap: a speaking assessment that feels unrehearsed, essays in French that lose marks on accuracy, or a Key Stage 3 base that needs firming up before the GCSE course begins. One-to-one lessons suit this because a tutor can work from the student's own written and spoken French and adjust the pace to the board they are sitting.

The route differs by stage. GCSE candidates may sit AQA or Pearson Edexcel papers, sixth formers may follow AQA, Edexcel or Eduqas, and IB students follow the Diploma course set by their school. Knowing which board and tier applies, and how each paper is assessed, shapes which practice is worth doing and when, which is what the sections below set out for each stage.

Which exam boards offer French?

AQA and Pearson Edexcel both offer GCSE French, and the school decides which one a student takes. AQA's French subject page lists the GCSE (8652), AS (7651), A-level (7652) and a Foundation Certificate of Secondary Education in French, with the older GCSE 8658 shown as outgoing. Pearson gives Edexcel GCSE French its own qualification page.

Eduqas lists no GCSE French on its qualifications index, though it offers A level French under code A800QS, and OCR's languages list covers only Latin and Classical Greek. Checking the board named on the exam entry avoids preparing against the wrong specification.

How is GCSE French structured?

AQA GCSE French is linear with no non-exam assessment, so all four papers (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) are sat at the end of the course. Students enter Foundation or Higher tier, and the same tier applies to all four skills, which makes the tier a decision to settle with the school early. AQA's scheme of assessment sets this out.

Content is arranged in three themes: People and lifestyle, Popular culture, and Communication and the world around us. Topics such as healthy living, celebrity culture and media and technology recur across the papers, so a tutor can build vocabulary by theme and then test it in each skill. The Department for Education's GCSE subject content sets out the four skills that every specification must assess.

What do the GCSE listening and speaking papers involve?

Listening has Section A comprehension questions, answered in English or non-verbally, and Section B dictation, where sentences are heard several times and no dictionaries are allowed. Dictation rewards accurate spelling and accents, so a tutor can set short dictations and mark them for the errors that keep recurring.

Speaking is teacher-conducted, audio-recorded and marked by an AQA examiner. It has a role-play in which the student must ask the examiner a question, reading aloud followed by questions on its topic, and a photo card, where two photos are described before an unprepared conversation on the card's theme. Rehearsing with unscripted follow-up questions, and recording answers for playback, tends to build the flexibility that a memorised script lacks.

How are GCSE reading and writing assessed?

Reading Section A tests comprehension, including inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words from context, and Section B asks for translation from French into English. A tutor can train the inference habit with unseen texts, asking the student to name the clues that point to a meaning.

Writing differs by tier. Foundation includes sentences about a photo, bullet-point tasks, gap-fill sentences, English-to-French translation and a longer choice task, whilst Higher has translation, a bullet-point task and an open-ended essay-style task. Timed answers marked for agreement of adjectives and past participles, the choice between perfect and imperfect, and consistency of tense show where accuracy marks are being lost.

How is A-level French structured?

AQA A-level French is linear, with Paper 1 (Listening, reading and writing), Paper 2 (Writing) and a Speaking paper, as AQA's A-level scheme of assessment describes. Paper 1 combines listening and reading comprehension, with a summary in French in each, and translation from French into English and from English into French. No dictionaries are allowed.

Paper 2 asks for a critical, analytical essay in French on each of two works, without access to the works or dictionaries. Cultural knowledge and critical analysis of French-speaking society are assessed alongside language, and English responses for understanding questions are capped, so answering in French carries weight. Eduqas A level French emphasises spoken fluency and an independent research requirement.

What do the A-level works, speaking test and research project involve?

Students study either one literary text and one film, or two texts, and abridged editions are not allowed. AQA's list of works includes Le Tartuffe, L'étranger, No et moi, Les 400 coups, La Haine and Entre les murs. Timed essay plans and short embedded references suit a paper sat without the works to hand.

The Speaking paper begins with a choice of two stimulus cards on different themes, where the student must ask two genuine questions, then moves to the individual research project. That project is a student-chosen topic linked to French-speaking countries, researched from several sources in French, and it cannot rely on the text or film used in the written paper. Only the Candidate Record Form, listing research headings and at least two sources, one online, may be used.

Which stage does a student need help with?

At GCSE, GCSE French tutors cover the exam-board papers, the speaking assessment and the grammar that the tiers expect, whilst A-Level French tutors cover essays, reading and the speaking test for sixth formers.

Years 7 to 9 fall in Key Stage 3, where the national curriculum programme of study is organised under purpose of study, aims, subject content and attainment targets, with content split into grammar and vocabulary and linguistic competence. Short, regular practice of vocabulary and verb forms usually suits this stage, and secondary school tutoring covers the wider curriculum. IB students follow the Diploma course set by their school, which IB tutoring covers, with the school confirming the level and assessments that apply.

How should French preparation be sequenced?

A sensible sequence starts with diagnosis from recent assessed work and a short oral exchange in French, which shows whether the difficulty sits in vocabulary, verb forms, listening speed or confidence. Targeted practice follows, with themes and grammar revisited in rotation, and timed past papers and rehearsed speaking come in as the exams near, marked against the board's mark scheme.

Before starting, check with the school which board and tier the student is entered for, whether the speaking assessment is conducted in school, and which works and research topic have been chosen at A-level. The board's specification is the reference for what can be asked, and it is worth keeping beside every practice paper.

Reports, checks and booking for French tuition

Parents of French students receive progress reports after sessions and a dedicated point of contact, whilst tutors who work with children hold an enhanced DBS check, with most also registered on the DBS Update Service. Each placement opens with an introductory session with the matched tutor, and a re-match costs nothing extra if the fit proves wrong.

Lessons run online for families across the UK and internationally, and in person in central London, with fees starting from £50 per 50-minute session and varying by tutor level and subject; the tuition fees and pricing page gives current arrangements. To book, send the student's year group, board and current grade through the enquiry form, and Taylor Tuition replies with tutor recommendations.

Related guides

Related reading: How to get a grade 9 in GCSE French.

See also GCSE French revision guide.

For the sixth-form course, see the A-Level French exam preparation guide.

To discuss a match, find a French tutor and include the student’s year group, exam board and current grade.